Pacing Ourselves to Follow

Since January 1, Shannon and I have been anticipating our move to Denton. Words can’t describe how excited we are to see what God is going to do in our lives as we move onto our new place of mission. Our prayer has been that the Lord would prepare the way before us. Our nature is to run out ahead and do things in our own strength. We have reminded ourselves that we are being "led" by the Spirit and not "pushed" by the Spirit. As we have been patient, we have seen the Lord make our path plain by bringing people into our lives that carry the same passion that we have: to give people every reason to want to follow Jesus.

Isaiah 45:2-3 has been a foundational scripture for us and I want to share it. It says, "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name."

It gives us great comfort to know that the Lord is going in front of us, clearing a path for us. Knowing that he is in front gives great encouragment to me as I blaze down a new path in life's journey!

Tyranny of the Urgent

Every felt like you check off one of your to-do's just to add two more to the list? Most of our lives are lived according to the urgent things that have to be done NOW. I have to admit that I have been that way for the past several weeks. It is easy to get lost in the now and not see the tomorrow. There are a few things that I am going to do to try to save myself from this tyranical taskmaster:

1. Remind myself that God is near. Whenver we feel overwhelmed we also feel isolated and alone. It is important to remember that the Lord is with us in this life, calm seas or category 5 hurricanes.
2. Attack the weakest link. We see the shows on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet where a lion observes a hurd of cape buffalo and looks to identify the weakest animal in the herd. The weakest link becomes his mark. By attacking the task that is least challenging to us we can eliminate it from our to-do list and feel a sense of accomplishment. The sense of accomplishment is what helps us to be motivated to attack the next task.
3. Pace myself. It won't all get done today but I know that it will get done. Consistency is the mark of champions.

A Transformer Birthday

Yesterday was my youngest son's birthday. It was a Transformers birthday. He was wired all day long when he realized that the day was all about him. It is amazing how different we act when we realize that we are the center of all the attention. Our moods change. We get a sudden burst energy and everything in the world seems as light as a feather. It is truly life transforming. If only we could realize that we are the apple of His eye (Prov. 17:8) how it would change the way we live out our daily lives.